Whilst sailing somewhere above 71 degrees north earlier this month, I needed a good book to while away the endless hours of daylight. I found it in Harry Ferguson's Child Protection Practice (Basingstoke, Palgrave MacMillan, 2011).
The great thing about this book is that it is primarily concerned, not with the macro world of child protection, but with the minutiae of everyday practice. Ferguson looks at such seemingly mundane events as performing a home visit or taking a child somewhere in a car and explores their significance and their potential as opportunities for effective child protection practice. There is an excellent chapter on the importance of touch in protecting children, which is a welcome counterblast to what he calls "deeply troubling cultural norms" surrounding touch.
This is just the kind of book we need: one that bases it's conclusions in an accurate understanding of what child protection practice involves and what can be achieved.
